March 1, 2004
By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan anti-government protesters blocked streets in Caracas with burning debris on Monday as opposition leaders said they would keep up protests to demand a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez.

The demonstrators cut off a major highway and several avenues in east Caracas as the country braced for more trouble after three days of clashes with troops and confused gunfights that killed at least two people and injured several dozen.

"This will go on as long as God wills it. Venezuela is fighting its own war now. We don't want a referendum now, we want (Chavez) to resign," said Juan Carlos Pirela, a protester who faced National Guard troops guarding a highway in Altamira, an opposition stronghold.

Boulders, flaming garbage, burned tree trunks, tires and other debris littered parts of the capital, causing traffic jams. But outside the trouble spots, the situation was generally calm in much of the sprawling city.

Opposition supporters have taken to the streets over the past three days to protest against what they say is an attempt by Chavez and pro-government electoral officials to block their petition for a referendum this year on the president's rule.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council was due later on Monday to announce a preliminary ruling on the petition.

It was expected to confirm further checks on about one million pro-referendum signatures, a move that opposition leaders condemn as a tactic to torpedo the poll. Chavez says the vote petition is riddled with forgeries.

"The electoral council is denying us a peaceful and democratic solution," said Delsa Solorzano of the Democratic Coordinator, an anti-Chavez coalition.

"We're calling for civic resistance," said Andres Velazquez, another opposition leader.

Observers from the Organization of American States and the Atlanta-based Carter Center have appealed for calm.

Chavez, who was elected in 1998 on a promise to fight poverty, has promised to crack down on disturbances and asserted that the United States is backing an attempt by the opposition to topple him.


ANTI-U.S. RHETORIC

Chavez recently stepped up his anti-U.S. rhetoric. On Sunday he called President Bush an "a--hole" and accused him of meddling in Venezuela.

He also threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States if it tries to invade or blockade Venezuela, which is its fourth largest oil supplier.

Although couched in hypothetical terms, Chavez' comments and the violence helped push oil prices to their highest level since shortly before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March last year. U.S. crude touched $36.45 a barrel.

Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

U.S. officials, who have criticized Chavez's self-styled "revolution" and his alliance with Cuba's Communist President Fidel Castro, routinely dismiss his accusations as bluster.

Venezuelan opposition leaders say they handed in 3.4 million pro-referendum signatures in December, well above the 2.4 million required to trigger a vote.

They are refusing to accept moves by the National Electoral Council to make extra checks on more than one million signatures because of alleged irregularities.

Foreign diplomats said the dispute over the signatures could lead to the collapse of the referendum process and the withdrawal of the international observers.

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